Thank You Insurance Man!

Today we had an insurance guy come to arrange for Barry to get some life insurance. (figure we should be responsible adults now that we are having a baby!) Anyway the guy is going over the profile with us and hes asking all these questions about us, then he tries to guess our ages. .... he says to me that he thinks I'm about 30 (which sadly is true). However he then turns to Barry and says that he thinks he is about 32. Barry is only 27 and is always giving me a hard time about my age - so I say thank you insurance man thank you very much. After he left Barry had a little complex about his age and I have to tell you all I loved every minute of it! ha ha ha! So next time you see Barry don't forget to mention that hes looking about 32 these days!

Baby is moving!

Finally felt the baby move yesterday! I was sitting at my desk and felt this little flick, like someone had tapped me from the inside out. At first I was not sure but then I realized that it was indeed our little bean. It was a werid experience and I have not noticed since but Im sure its just the start of more to come! How fast life is changing.

Its a.......

Well the verdict is in we are having a....




B.............................................................................




Baby! Thats what it is! Its an unco-operative baby in a breech postion with its legs crossed so tight that the tech could not see a thing! We tried and tried and poked but no luck. Anyway it turns out the baby would not let us see other things like the heart clearly enough so I go back in 2 weeks for another look to see if they can get it to move. Strangely enough when Barry came in and started talking the baby did a flip and they were able to see more of him or her but not enough to finish the exam, thats a bad sign the baby is already listening to its father and not me lol. Oh well better luck in 2 weeks! Baby Bates remains a mystery stay tuned.

19 Weeks ande counting

Well noone ever said pregnancy was pretty.. Im starting to expand but its for a good cause for once! Anyway here are a couple of shots taken saturday night at the Genauto Christmas party. We went with Heather and Mike and had a nice time. Barry particularly enjoyed my DD status.



19 weeks eek!


Barry and I and the Bean of course!

Boy or Girl????

Well the big day is here! We leave in 15 min to go for our ultrasound... the big question on our mind is will we have a boy in there or a girl!! We will be hopefully finding out today!

Stay tuned for more details.......

Funny Pregnancy Video

Im almost 5 months and I am starting to be able to relate to thie girl in this video. There are certain parts of my body that I can no longer reach/see as well anymore. Im sure by 7 months I will be needing a pedicure! Enjoy its quite cute

Just for Fun

I found this on You Tube... I have to say that maybe Barry can try this next time he stops for a Big mac!

Merry Christmas?

I'm struggling with a strange thing I witnessed today. Barry and I were at the mall and there was two men talking to each other perhaps old acquaintances that had not seen each other in some time. At the end of the conversation they parted ways and said "Merry Christmas"... my thought here is this: when is it too soon to start wishing people a Merry Christmas? I realize that Christmas is exactly a month away today, but is it now a little soon? One could argue that perhaps they wont see each other again in time to make the yearly greeting, but if that is the case then does that mean that we should be calling up people we have not seen in months and say Hey happy Easter or Happy Ramadan just in case I miss you on that day? I'm confused about the social etiquette in this situation. What do you the reader think? I'm would love to hear from you. Oh in case I don't see you Merry Christmas!

Pregnancy Perks

I have been waiting for the day when I would be in a class of privileged people. Millionaires have special clubs, stores like Cosco where its members only shopping, threes first class on airplanes, special "enhanced" change rooms at the gym. Now I can finally say that I am part of a group. Today at Toys R us there was little parking to be had as I went searching for gifts for Olivia and Josh. I looked to the left and the right and there was no parking... wait that is there was no parking for "regular" people. I look up and there is the answer to both my desire to be part of a group and to not park a mile away. The expectant mothers parking it was like a light was shining down from heaven directly in front of the door to the store. For a moment I felt guilt. Thinking no I cant park here, but then I thought about it and realized hey I'm 4.5 months I'm expectant if that doesn't count I don't know what does. So I pulled and parked with pride. Yes folks you may get stretch marks, you may not sleep well, go through painful labour and have a baby- but its all worth it if not for the child then for the expectant mother parking!

Good bye La Senza......

I was never vary glamorous in the under ware department to start with.. but we have now hit a new low, or should I say "big". I have been living in denial for a while now, ignore that my current cute La Senza under ware have been running out of space. Each day I would wake up and squeeze my growing self into them saying they are fine lots of room in these. The it happened... I was wearing a pair the other day and I noticed that I had caused a little hole from well over stretching.. I chose to ignore this until that little hole became a much bigger hole. So it is with sadness that I must say good bye to the La Senza under ware, well I'm hoping not goodbye but just see you in the summer.

I now say hello to a new friend called the maternity under ware. I was skeptical at first due to their lack of aesthetic appeal. However after a comfortable now squeezed in day I can now say I am in love with the comfort of my new motherhood maternity under ware. Welcome to comfort!

We want to Hear from you!

Have your Vote!

Well as much as I don't like strangers giving me opinions I want and value my friends input. So here is your chance to be part of the Bates Baby Poll. Leave a comment and help us decide:

1. Should we find out what we are having? (u/s Nov. 27th)

2. Do you think its gonna be a boy or girl?

Just for all you superstitious types here is some info about me to help you decide what I'm having. (Julia I expect this will be most helpful to you lol)

I have had bad acne all along so far

I crave sweets

I have gained weight all over not just tummy

Heart Rate was above 140

Chinese Gender Calander says girl

Minimal Nausea

So go on give us your vote!!

a thought from a Pregnant mind....

I have noticed lately that pregnancy brings out the most opinions in life. Its like anyone and everyone who has a child feels that there personal experience is fact and proceed to tell you about it. Don't get me wrong there are alot of helpful people whose words mean alot to me.. however there are many who don't mean anything to me. Like for example the lady from my work who basically told me that I had "no business" finding out the sex of our baby... excuse me? I think that it is my business. Yes that's right my being pregnant means that I'm entitled to your opinion. How nice.
(on a side note we have not yet decided on finding out the sex)

The other thing that I enjoy is the labour stories. First of all I can now see how the inexperienced person must feel when women are telling their tales of 50 hour labours. I as a labour and delivery nurse can assure you all out there that there is no such thing. Perhaps it felt that long but certainly was not. I try to have educated conversations with these mothers about the whole birth process but of course because I have not had a birth means I don't know what I'm talking about.... right so lets see 5 years of labour and delivery, an average of 3 shifts per week that's at least 3 deliveries per week so that's 156 per year and about 780 in 5 years... hmm I can see how I must not be at all informed about the process as compared to the mother who has had 2 deliveries.

Anyway I do just nod and smile when I hear the tales of 50 hours of labour in the snow storm and how the epidural went into their spine and almost paralyzed them. I guess everyone needs a battle story, I'm sure I will have my share... I just hope its not 50 hours!

This calander makes me laugh.....

I dont know if you have heard of this website thats called despair.inc. Anyway they make very funny demotivational calanders and cards. I think they are hilarious and want one of these calanders for christmas (hint Hint barry). Anyway here is my quote of the day.... lets just say its dedicated to all those who dont get it......

17 weeks and growing......

I cant believe how fast time is going! I can already see the changes happening (and trust me my bladder feels it too!). Anyway I just thought I would share some pics of lately so you can watch Baby Bates grow!



This is us at approximately 10 weeks....

Fast Forward to 16 weeks and here we are!! Stay tuned for more picture fun.

Hyponobirthing

I have been on the many websites exploring peoples various thoughts on child birth, and today I have come across something new. Its called Hypnobirthing... Which is defined as:

"HyponoBirthing is a method of childbirth preparation started by Maria Mongan. HypnoBirthing teaches clients relaxation and self-hypnosis techniques that reduce fear and tension during labor. Hypnosis techniques can significantly reduce the perception of pain during labor and may help to shorten the length of labor. HypnoBirthing assists the mother to achieve a natural birth without the use of medications. Hypnosis techniques utilize her body's own natural anesthesia and returns birth to a beautiful peaceful experience"

I have highlighted in red one particular section that made me laugh. Now I know that I have not yet had the delight of having something huge squeezed out of somewhere considerably smaller yet... however I think that from my experiences in labour and delivery its fair to say that its more then a "perception of pain during labour". I think many of my patients would be the first to say that its quite real!! I remember 1 client that I had that came with a tape of music and breathing techniques to "hypnotize" herself into a state of calm so that she would not feel the pain of labour.... do I really need to tell you how that worked out? About 2 hours into the tapes she was telling me very strongly that she would like me to call the doctor with his magical hypnotizing epidural! Yes hypnobirthing I will definitely put that on my list of funny ways to amuse myself while I wait (not long might I add do to my staff status) for my epidural.

I had some lady on this website I was on tell me that hypnobirthing has an 83% effectiveness rate, my question is effective in what way? effective in making lots of money for the silly people that by the tapes and books? Effective in the 250 dollars you can spend over 12 weeks of classes? I refrained from telling her that where I'm from the hospital that does 4000 deliveries a year that 75% of those were under medication. Yes that's the only hypnosis I want that of a big syringe of drugs! Amen!

Nick meet Mr. "t"

For all you who watch SNL you will well be aware of this clip. Its Nick Burns your company's computer guy. I have had the delight this week of encountering my own Nick. Lets call him Mr."T". Mr. T is a know it all computer guy who when you call him with a problem related to your computer will tell you what an idiot you are and make you feel like you just stepped off a boat in a foriegn country. I had some issues with my computer he made sure I knew what an idiot I had been for "letting" my computer get a bad virus. So while he was trying to explain to me the details of what he was doing I decided that I would offer to teach him how to insert a catheter. I had a strong feeling I would definately be smarter then him in this area... I dont think he found me amusing, cause he made me leave my office or "move" so he could fix my incompetance. Anyway this clip very clearly describes how I and many feel about Mr. T and how he acts. Enjoy!

16 week appointment today

Well today was my 16 week prenatal appointment. To be accurate I'm actually 16 weeks and 3 days. Anyway I went to my doctor and I while I was waiting to be seen I noticed some key things that I would like to share with you all:

1. People show up without an appointment alot. They will walk into a completely full waiting room, and with a room full of people who have been waiting (with an appointment) for a period of time and say "any chance of squeezing me in today?" No sir there is not, as you can see there are many people who have appointments and are waiting, so there is no squeeze room.

2. Body Odor: strong strong BO: people this is gross just cause your at the doctors and are potentially sick does not excuse you from a common North American practice we like to refer to as "Hygiene".

3. Small children in doctors offices: parents why do you let your off spring roam free? No its not OK that your sick child roams the office spreading the very germs they are there to have treated. They are not allowed to go behind the desk, and I can guarantee as from the perspective of someone who works in the hospital, the staff may say ohhh how cute- what they are really thinking is get your kid under control!

Anyway that is my insight for the day into the world of waiting to be seen at the doctors office. I am doing well, so far so good with baby, I got to hear the heart beat today it was really clear 149 bpm!! (I do expect that all you believers in the heart rate determining the sex will let me know what Im having to render the need for an ultra sound useless! ) (I'm sure you agree Julia lol).

Thinking of you today Dad

Ken Hembruff October 31 1928- November 6, 2004

There are not enough words to say .....

You are missed.

An apology to my Husband.....

This is a public apology to my husband. Tonight I decided while he was on the computer that I would go in the crawl space and get the water meter reading to call into the billing company. As i tried to make my way in I realized it was a tight spot and I was having trouble.

Barry's first response was why did I feel the need to do this at 10pm, my answer was unknown as I had just got it in my mind that I wanted to go get it done. So then Barry tried to assist me by reading the numbers from the angle he could see. He could not read the last number due to the lighting. He then suggest that he would do it later and this is where for some reason beyond what I can understand when looking back at the moment I freaked out telling him to go away in a very angry way.

After the moment passed I felt like it was an out of body experience and I have no idea why I did this. I can honestly say that I think I had some sort of hormone/pregnancy moment. I will tell you ladies the mood is not a pretty thing at this stage of the game, be warned to those who want to have kids your behaviour is a little wacky. Anyway I'm sorry Barry I love you, even when you slam the crawl space door behind me and tell me to "stay in there". Time for a time out for pregnant people!

In Defense of the pickles....

For those of you who read pop culture king (the rival and may I add less superior blog) I want to set the record striaght. No anyone who knows my queasy gaggy husband knows that smells of a variety of sources make him gag/puke. So over the years I have developed techniques to spare him the pain of dealing with anything unpleasant that may upset his delicate sense of smell. One particular issue in our house is the ritual of Barry putting out the garbage. There will be sounds of gagging and carrying on from the garage on any given Monday night. So I have taken to flushing certain smelly foods down the toilet as to spare him. I have been doing it for a long time so I figure its not an issue. I mean if the bowel can handle Barry's daily deposits of "dropping the kids off at the pool" then whats a small jar of baby pickles gonna do? So I flushed it and it went down fine. It was no till later did we discover that there was an issue. So I ask you the audience to be the judge - is my wifely good intentions not the winner in all this? Thank you for taking the time to hear my side of the story.

An Ode to the Clemintine

An Ode to the Clemintine

Oh sweet delicious orange how I love you so

When I eat you I get a chill down to my toe

You are a delightful treat to enjoy

Loved by both girl and boy

I would love to eat you all year long

Sadly your only here and then your gone

So I will peel your lovely fruit

thank god you dont make me toot!

- an original poem by Cherie Bates